Aragamax, good idea or no?

[kelp]

Was wondering if anybody had any good or bad experiences with the Caribsea Live sand aragamax?

I was starting a 10g nano and can get 20 lbs for 19.99 from a local fish store,  just checking if its decent stuff at all?

[Metznreef]

i bought some to put in my 7 bow and was wondering the same thing.

[SLOreefer]

you are better off getting some dead sand and seeding it with sand from a variety of established tanks if you can. that is the best way because in a bag none of the worms or pods or anything can survive in a airtight package. it has bacteria that is live but as far as organisms and stuff it has none.

[SaltyDog]

My two cents... Your mileage may vary.

 

A couple of months ago, I put Argamax in my 10 gallon, and had somewhat of a difficult time with it. Being a complete newbie to reef-keeping, I bought what I thought was best. Don't get me wrong, I do like it now, but not without some heartache.

 

My problem was, IMHO, I bought Argamax in the sugar-sized variety. (There are probably many different sizes, and probably much better suited for a 10 gallon.) I got it in the tank, set my LR in there with it, to start the curing process, and had problems after I had put the powerheads in. The powerheads kept blowing the sand up on top on the LR, and I figured that can't be good for the Coraline growth, etc. etc., not to menion it looked really bad.

 

I didn't want to take it out, so I put a layer of crushed coral over the Argamax to keep it in place. Bingo! Worked like a champ. I don't know if that was the most recommended solution for the problem, but it did the trick for me. Kept the sand off the LR, and the coral/Argamax combination, along with 20 lbs of LR keep my nitrogen levels at almost zero. I am very happy with that. (Not to mention I always get rave reviews from my LFS on my nitro levels. heh heh)

 

This is a small detail, but I thought I'd mention it. While the blue-legged hermit crabs didn't mind the Argamax, the Margarita snails I have absolutely hated it. Every once and a while, they would try and walk across the reef floor, and as soon as they touched the sugar-sized Argamax, they would step back, freak-out for a second, and continue on the glass walls. Now, since I added the crushed coral, they *love* walking across and cleaning the floor. After all, isn't cleaning what they are there for?

 

Good luck in your decision. I don't know if this helps, but I did find this for you, and maybe some insight.

 

http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Han...ushedCoral.html

 

EDIT: I hate typos!!

 

(Edited by SaltyDog at 12:32 am on June 12, 2002)

[rexxx]

dont skimp on the sand do it right.get 8-10 lbs of live sand containing pods ect,and buy some plain aragonite this stuff im my opinion is a key element in keeping your ph at a even level .with no buffering and just kalk additions.mix the two together and you have a great sand bed.dont worry about a 2-3 inch sand bed as there is not enough surface are for it to matter anyway. weekly water changes and your good to go.

[vanillabox]

I too bought a bag of the stuff for my 10, and then added 4# of not so local LFS LS.  the reason why I did this was at the time none of the LFS had dead sand or there own LS, so I got this a PetCo (:-( . the tank is in great condition though, I have had it up and running since jan. and so far have only lost a limpit.  Now the LFS are starting to get in reef sand, so I don't have to do that again.